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Brewing up some good home cookin’

The red-hot Milwaukee Brewers ran their home record to a gaudy 50-16 this afternoon with a 3-2 decision over the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile, another of their division opponents, the Houston Astros, managed to secure their 44th total victory on the season with a 4-3, 11-inning win over the Giants.

So, it made we wonder how often the team with the most home wins in a season outdoes the season total of another team. It occurred quite often in the days of the 154-game schedule. From 1904-1961 (58 seasons), there were 48 years in which this occurred. In the 49 seasons since, its only occurred 17 times. Here’s the full list from 1904-2010, with the differences in each season:

YEAR

BEST TOTAL HOME WINS

WORST TOTAL WINS

DIFF

1904

56

38

18

1905

54

48

6

1906

56

49

7

1907

54

49

5

1908

52

49

3

1909

57

42

15

1910

58

47

11

1911

54

44

10

1912

57

50

7

1913

54

51

3

1914

53

51

2

1915

55

43

12

1916

50

36

14

1917

56

51

5

1919

51

36

15

1920

52

48

4

1921

53

51

2

1922

54

53

1

1925

53

47

6

1926

53

46

7

1927

57

51

6

1928

52

43

9

1929

57

56

1

1930

58

52

6

1931

60

56

4

1932

62

43

19

1933

56

55

1

1934

54

52

2

1935

56

38

18

1936

56

53

3

1937

57

46

11

1938

55

45

10

1939

55

43

12

1940

55

50

5

1941

53

43

10

1942

60

42

18

1943

58

49

9

1945

50

46

4

1946

61

49

12

1948

55

51

4

1949

61

50

11

1950

55

52

3

1951

56

52

4

1952

50

42

8

1953

60

50

10

1954

59

51

8

1955

56

53

3

1961

65

47

18

1962

61

40

21

1963

58

51

7

1965

52

50

2

1969

60

52

8

1970

59

56

3

1972

55

54

1

1975

64

57

7

1977

60

54

6

1978

59

56

3

1979

56

53

3

1981

38

37

1

1985

58

57

1

1988

56

54

2

1996

56

53

3

1998

62

54

8

2003

57

43

14

2004

57

51

6

Some notes about the biggest differences:

1904: The New York Giants’ 56 home wins helped lead them to an easy NL pennant, while the AL’s last place Washington Senator’s 38 total wins left them 23.5 games behind 7th-place Detroit.

1961: The Yanks once again exerted their will at home, nabbing a record 65 wins (against 16 losses) in New York to help them win the pennant. Meanwhile, the Phillies struggled to a 47-107 record in the NL, one of the worst all-time seasons in history, until . . .

1962: The San Francisco Giants won 61 of their 82 contests at Candlestick Park, and would need every one of them in their dogfight with the Dodgers for the NL pennant. Meanwhile, the expansion Mets infamously went 40-120 in their first year. The 21-game difference between Giants’ home wins and Mets total wins is the highest all-time.